UPDATE 17/08/2013:BRIGHT NOVA: Nova Delphini, which exploded just three days ago in the northern constellation Delphinus, has continued to brighten. With a magnitude of +4.5, it is now easily visible in binoculars even from urban areas if you know where to look. This cactus in Tucson, Arizona, points the way:

"This is my obligatory southern-Arizona cactus photo of the nova in Delphinus," says photographer Scott Tucker. "It was actually visible to the naked eye at the time." Novas occur in binary star systems when one star dumps matter onto a companion white dwarf. As the matter piles up on the surface of the white dwarf it heats up, fuses, and explodes, producing a flash of light 50,000 to 100,000 times brighter than the sun. Despite their brightness, most novas are invisible to the unaided eye because they are so far away. Nova Delphini is a rare exception.

A NEW STAR IN THE SKY :16/08/2013 :Around the world, amateur astronomers are turning their telescopes toward minor constellation Delphinus where a new star has appeared. Koichi Itagaki of Yamagata, Japan, discovered the nova on August 14th. At the time, the stellar brightness was +6.3. Since then it has continued to brighten, crossing the 6th magnitude threshold of naked-eye visibility. John Chumack photographed the surging nova on August 15th from the John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio:

"The nova is hard to see naked eye unless you are in a very dark sky and know exactly where to look," says Chumack, "but this is a very bright nova visible in binoculars." He used a 16-inch Newtonian telescope to take the picture. Backyard astronomers who wish to see this nova should point their GOTO telescopes to coordinates 20:23:30.7, +20:46:06 (J2000). More information and updates are available from Sky and Telescope. www.spaceweather.com